Learning about the life cycle of a butterfly through active play and practicing them scissor skills at the same time.
Resources
- Card
- Coloured Pencils
- Green Paper
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
- Child Safe Scissors
The Set Up
Using your coloured pens draw a butterfly in the centre of the piece of card and colour it in. Fold your paper to create eight strips of paper and cut along the folded lines you have made.
Glue each end of your strips and place them so they are curved over the butterfly to create a cocoon style shape.
Playing The Activity
I encouraged Ayla to hold the scissors correctly but she definitely wasn’t willing to be helped so I let her snip the paper the way she wanted to. I think I will buy some self opening scissors just to help her out a little with practicing her scissor skills!
As Ayla begun snipping I asked her what we find inside cocoons. She said “Lets see!” she showed great determination with snipping the paper even if she was holding the scissors like garden shears!
She asked some really great questions like “why do butterflies go into cocoons?” which gave us a chance to explore the life cycle of a butterfly a little too.
Activities Like This Are Great Because They;
- Build an understanding of nature and the world around them
- Encourage fine motor skills by snipping with scissors
- Supports children’s ability to ask questions to learn more about their interests
- Boosts problem solving skills as they work out the best way to cut open the cocoon